It happened so fast when Lakyus opened her yes and Remedios wasn't there embracing her body. "What just happened?!" These were the first words that her mind had for the moment.
The area she was in right now wasn't the ruins of that neighborhood but the park she visited every week. She was trying to understand how she got here out of nowhere and also...
"Remedios?"
She wanted to look for her girlfriend but there was someone standing a few meters away. It was a woman with thick muckle wearing a black armor and she was holding a war hammer in her right hand.
"Huh?!"
Lakyus knew who this person was very well. It was her friend, her comrade… her sister.
"Gagaran?" Lakyus was shocked to see her friend after such a long time.
"Yo Lakyus, it's been a long time."
Those sweet memories returned again, the time when she went on adventures with her sisters of Blue Rose. She was about to cry from happiness and sadness but there was something that Lakyus saw as strange.
Gagaran was not wearing her old armor but the one of the Nazar Army, so that meant that Gagaran has entered in this city as an enemy but can she really call her old friend an enemy just because she fights for the other side.
"Gagaran… how did I end up here?"
"It was our doing, evil boss."
Two other figures showed up behind Gagaran like shadows.
"Tia and Tina… wait…"
There was something unusual with her eyes. She knew well how her sisters looked like but she had never seen before that color in their eyes.
"Are you two perhaps…"
"Vampires, yes."
She knew it, that crimson color only those types of monsters have it. She was thinking if it was Evileye that turned them into vampires or the Sorcerer King himself.
"But why? Why did you two decide to turn into monsters?"
"Nothing special evil boss, we simply didn't want to get old and weak so we decide to throw our humanity away to become immortals." they said that with such normal voice like they were at a bar like good the old times. Lakyus stared at Gagaras as if she let those two at her care and she failed to take care of them.
"Don't look at me like that Lakyus, am not a nanny. After you left the Blue Rose, we didn't have a plan anymore for the continuation of Blue Rose so the team broke up. I just joined the nazar army because it was the perfect place for a blockhead like me and these two joined the immortal army after they turned into vampires."
Lakyus felt regret for leaving them because of her feelings and faith. If she never migrated to the Slane Theocracy, she might have kept her sisters together but these were the consequences of her decision.
But she needed to know something else from them, something that she had seen in this brutal battle.
"Are you guys perhaps… killing civilians?"
She had seen plenty of civilians executed on the streets and to find out that her own friends were committing such war crimes would feel very disgusting because they were known for their heroism back in the old days.
"No, we haven't killed anyone who isn't holding a weapon. The massacres are being committed mostly by the elves because you know well their history with the Slane Theocracy."
For the elves, this was an epic judgment day because they can end the humans that have made them suffer for hundreds of years. But Lakyus was against such atrocities that won't heal the hostility that humans and elves have.
"Are you good with this cruelty?" asked Lakyus
"Were you good with the cruelty of the humans?" Gagaran returned with the same question.
"Never."
"Same but none of us can gives orders here Lakyus. The one who is leading this army is a young girl that executed an entire village."
"Executed an entire village? Could it be…" There was some news from the new lands of the Sorcerer Kingdom that a young nazar discovered a dark ritual in that village and because of that ritual, the townsfolk were crucified and impaled by the nazars.
"This girl must be dangerous."
But this was not that important now because she had someone important find and she getting teleported to her old friend meant something."
"Anyway, what do you want?"
"Lakyus, I want you to come with us."
"Huh, where?"
"To the Sorcerer Kingdom, Lakyus. You must not stay here because this whole city will burn."
"This can't be true!"
"It's an order from his majesty Ainz Ooal Gown himself. Sooner or later, this city will fall just like the others. That's why… please come with us."
She can't say now that she wants to save this city because she wanted to escape with Remedios and leave this city at the mercy of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
"What should I do?"
Going back with her friends or going back with her girlfriend? Who was more important here? But the decision of leaving her friend she took it a long time ago when she was still with them but now she can't forget about Remedios. Love was more important than friendship.
"I can't Gagaran, I can't come back."
"But why Lakyus? This city will soon fall with the rest of the country, it's not worthy to fight for Slane Theocracy now, do you understand that?"
"I don't care about the city anymore!"
"Huh?"
Gagaran got suddenly confused by what her old friend said. If she isn't fighting for the city anymore then why refusing to come back with her old friends?
"There is someone that I have feelings for and I don't want to leave her here."
"Was that Remedios?" asked Tina.
"Yeah she was kissing Remedios, that paladin from Roble." said Tia.
"Yes it was Remedios and she might be looking for me right now."
"Oh, that's impossible, evil boss."
"Huh, why?"
"She could be dead by now because she fought against Captain Madeye, you know, the young girl we mentioned a moment ago."
"Remedios… dead… lying... you're lying."
Lakyus did not want to believe such a statement.
"You know me well, evil boss… I can't keep secrets."
Lakyus turned immediately and started to run but Gagaran grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going Lakyus?!" she shouted.
"To look for Remedios!"
"You can't go back now Lakyus, they will kill you. Remedios is a traitor and she won't survive even if they capture her so forget about her already!"
"No I won't, unhand me already."
"They will fucking kill you damn it, are you deaf. This is your only chance to get out of this hellhole with your family alive!"
"I said, UNHAND ME!"
Lakyus attacked Gagaran with her sword leaving a mark on her breastplate. Gagaran quickly backed herself off so she won't get hurt by the wild Lakyus. This was the first that Lakyus attempted to kill her friend out of frustration and that's what shocked her friend.
"Lakyus what the hell is wrong with you, for fuck sake I'm trying to save you, forget about Remedios, she is dead, fucking dead!"
"Shut up! I can't trust someone who fights for the undead!"
Gagaran was hurt by that harsh word she never wanted to hear coming from her old friend. The fanaticism was still alive even in the darkest hour of this country. There was only one way to put down her fanatic friend…
"Lakyus you are leaving me no choice but to fucking beat the shit out of you until you understand."
"Don't try it Gagaran!"
"You two, do not interfere!" Gagaran told the twin sisters. The muscular woman stepped slowly towards Lakyus but step by step she was getting faster.
"HAAAAHH!"
Gagaran ran like a wild gorilla and Lakyus decided to fight against her old friend.
[ Floating Swords ]
The swords that hover around Lakyus were launched into an offensive move to stop the trouble.
Gagaran had to stop her advance to protect herself. She had never fought seriously against those weapons so she did not know their full power or if they can cut easy through her armor.
[ Martial Art - Eagle Eye ]
Her visions became so sharp to a point she could see every insect moving and flying, every leaf falling, and also the swords that were reaching her.
"Orrraaaahhh!"
Gagaran spins her war hammer with an unimaginable speed and every floating sword that clashed with that spiral was deflected right away. The muscular woman broke into a sprint and with that speed, it looked like she was flying.
She reached Lakyus in a second and attempted to hit her. A war hammer was just too powerful to be used in a berserker way so she just will try to hold back and break a few bones so her friend won't be able to resist.
The war hammer swing down and it seemed that Lakyus was unprepared for this attack. But her powerful attack was surprisedly blocked by four floating swords that returned to protect their owner.
"Arghh!"
Gagaran felt the pain coming from her shoulder because one of the floating swords had penetrated through her armor and flesh and there was a second one coming targeting the left shoulder.
"Damn it, I'm at disadvantage here!"
She spins her body and blocked the fast sword but she turned around again in fear for the other floating swords but it was Lakyus herself that attacked this time. Her cursed sword swung down and Gagaran managed to block it with great difficulties because she still had the floating sword inside her shoulder that was trying to penetrate continually.
"I don't want to hurt you anymore Gagaran, just surrender!"
"Argh! I will not… Uguhh!"
Her body was in pain and the floating sword wasn't stopping and the worst was that the floating swords were about to attack her as she was blocking Lakyus. She was in a really mortal situation.
"Should we stop this?"
Tia asked her sister that was observing the fight.
"No, we won't fight even if Gagaran asks us to help her. This is the war of the mortals and our vampire lords ordered us to not intervene in their hassle."
"Right."
Tina was correct here, even if they were Nazars, this particular war was not for them but still, it brought betrayal vibes to not help two friends that were trying to put each other down.
The twin always had that cold nature that might betray Lakyus at any time but in the end, they cared about their boss. Now the twins had a true cold heart and that great love was not the same anymore but they still wanted their human friends to end this meaningless fight.
"HAAAAHH!"
"Ughh!"
Gagaran kicked Lakyus on the guts and quickly removed the sword from her shoulder. "Ughhh~ fucking hell this shit hurts!" Lakyus was ready again to fight and started to come closer.
[ Martial Art - SMASH ]
The war hammer hit the ground and it blasted the area around Gagaran and also Lakyus was inside the range of the blast. Clouds of dust were raised covering the whole battleground.
"I hope this will slow her down."
The dust began to fade away and Gagaran could see something glowing through the dust.
"Huh!?"
The dust was no more and Lakyus appeared with her cursed sword that was enveloped with dark energy. The face of Lakyus told everything and she was angry at her friend like she was seeing her as a true enemy.
"I can heal myself… but you can't…"
[ Dark Blade Mega Impact ]
The cursed sword Kilineiram release the waves of darkness and this attack has the intent to kill Gagaran. The sword has the ability to hit many targets but this time there was only one target so the damage will more devastating.
The dark energy was too incredibly fast and Gagara had not time to react to this attack. The impact was devastating and much more powerful compare to what Gagaran managed to cause earlier.
Gagaran was swallowed by the dark flams and smoke that took over the area. If normal people saw this explosion, they would not believe if she would survive such destructive power. Even the ground around the area turned dark by the dark flames. Tia and Tina were still unmoved and unsurprised by this and now they were waiting for the end.
Once again, the dark smoke faded away from the battlefield, and in the middle where the impact happened was standing Gagaran with more than half of her armor torn apart by the wild explosion.
Lakyus looked at her a bit concerned because Gagaran looked like half dead person and her body was still very hot by the flames and was emitting steam. After a moment of silence, Gagaran fell on her knees.
'I… I… I lost… I lost her…"
Gagaran wasn't able to lift her war hammer for now so at this moment she was the prey at the mercy of Lakyus. She could not believe that she lost to a priestess which was impossible for her to fight alone especially against someone like Gagaran.
Now it was over…
"I'm sorry Gagaran, I did not want this to happen and I'm sure you didn't want it either but fate has different plans."
Gagaran was still looking at her feet because she was still shocked by her defeat. She lifted her head and saw Lakyus with tears in her eyes.
"Are you going to kill me now?"
"How can you say that? I will never do such a thing to you, I don't want to create a black hole in my heart to feel guilty for the rest of my life. I simply want you to understand that old Lakyus the adventurer is not coming back so please let this become just a memory."
Gagaran was defeated, she was not able to bring back her friend so the one thing she has to say…
"Forgive me… It was I that caused all this. I guess love is more important than friendship. If you want to look for Remedios, let me help you so the path will be safer… just like the old times."
"That's the Gagaran I know…" The smile returned again and the mod between them was more peaceful.
"Then the only thing I need to do is heal you."
"Yeah, that last attack destroyed my healing potions."
"Fufu~, sorry…"
Suddenly, some blood fell upon Gagaran's face. For a second she thought that her own blood or something but that was not true. She saw that Lakyus got penetrated by an arrow on her left shoulder.
"LAKYUS!"
Gagaran turned her head at the twins but they had no bows and the arrow came from behind Lakyus.
"Ughh~!" Lakyus let out sounds of pain.
"Lakyus heal me now!"
Lakyus turned once to see who was this person that wounded her but she was meet with another arrow on her right shoulder this time.
"LAKYUS NOOOO!"
From the darkness, someone showed up that shocked Gagaran to the bone. It was her, the one that has executed an entire town of humans. She was holding a bow and pointed Lakyus again.
"No, no, no, no, stop this Madeye."
"Who… the… hell… are… you?!"
With two arrows in her body, Lakyus tried to hold herself with her sword but the new enemy didn't waste her time and shot another arrow straight at the left side of her belly.
"STOOOOOPPPP ITT!"
Gagaran was screaming her lungs out because this felt like a nightmare for her to see her friend bleeding. "Tia, Tina please help Lakyus now…" The twins weren't moving and there were also two other figures standing behind them. She tried to move so she can help her friend but her body was still weak by the explosion.
"Lakyus please heal yourself and run!"
"I…
Her body was in critical condition and Gagaran could see this her floating swords that were slowly falling because their owner was her strength. Slowly the end was coming for Lakyus as Madeye stepped in front of her with her sword ready.
"Captain Madeye, please don't kill Lakyus, please don't do it, I'm begging you!"
But it seemed the captain was ignoring the pleas for mercy. The rumors were true about her pure brutality, she was a true inquisitor of the Nazarick Kingdom and there will always be fanatics like her.
Lakyus raised her head to see the face of the killer. This young girl was a human but her eyes were that of a devil. Lakyus now was in the same position as Gagaran but she did not expect mercy from this one.
"Ah, this girl does not like me at all.."
The last thing she wanted was to turn her head and see Gagaran for the last time. She knew why her friend was in tears. She had no power to stop this killer but that was okay. If what Gagaran said about Remedios being dead true then she had no regret of dying. She hoped to see her girlfriend in the afterlife again soon.
Lakyus with blood on her lips smiled at Gagaran.
"Good… bye... my friend..."
And after a second Madeye with a slash, chopped Lakyus head just like she with Remedios. Gagaran couldn't imagine the horror that happened in front of her eyes. It's like the whole world shattered into different pieces.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
The head of Lakyus rolled two meters away from her body and it made Gagaran even more horrified. She used all her strength to walk with hands and legs to reach Lakyus's dead body.
"LAKYUS WAKE UP!" of course, no response was coming from a headless corpse, and it seemed like Gagaran was turning crazy by this trauma. But Madeye did not want to let her mourn her friend and kicked Gagaran on the stomach causing her harsh pain.
Madeye grabbed Gagaran by her jaw put the blade on her mouth to make her stop crying like a little girl
"Hey you, you better shut the fuck up with those cringe screams!"
"But you killed my friend…"
"I don't give a damn! She and Remedios have killed around two hundred of our brothers and sisters. Your friend was my enemy and I eliminated her as a good little soldier would do.
She could not go against her on this matter because Lakyus was still a servant of the Slane Theocracy and an enemy of the Sorcerer Kingdom of Nazarick. She simply has to accept reality and obey the captain.
"Also, what did you mean with "Lakyus heal me now!", huh? Did you actually wanted to fight against me?"
"..." no response was coming from Gagaran. She simply wanted to keep Lakyus alive.
"I wanted her to live… just that, nothing more."
"Is that so? Well, her majesty Keno was known as Evileye when she was an adventurer, and you were both comrades, right?"
"...Yes?"
"Then go kiss her majesty's feet to bring her back to life!"
Neia released Gagaran and walked away leaving the weak muscular woman on the ground confused. This crazy girl had a point, why should she sorrow when the Sorcerer Kingdom can bring people back to life like nothing. Now it only matters if her old friend would accept tp bring Lakyus back to life.
"Am truly a musclehead..."
Out of thin air, someone showed up near Lakyus body. It was a short woman covered with a red robe. Gagaran couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her.
"Evileye… I mean Keno… damn it, I mean your majesty?!"
A long time has passed since she turned into a queen and Gagaran did not visit her much but seeing her with her old red robe brought Gagaran back in time when they were Blue Rose.
"Don't push yourself Gagaran, you are as hardhead as ever."
"I don't care about myself, just bring back Lakyus, please"
"Of course I will bring her back, I just can't see her at this state ."
"Oh thank god, thank you very much, your majesty."
Finally, Gagaran felt relieved knowing that her friend will be back but she did not know if Lakyus would still want to stay with her.
A carriage arrived with a bunch of vampires. They grabbed the body and the head of Lakyus and threw them inside the wagon and the body of Remedios was there too.
"Well, until next time Gagaran."
Keno threw a healing potion at her and disappeared into the darkness with the carriage. The was somehow a victory for Gagaran... if she wanted to call it like that. Now she did not have to worry about Lakyus for the movement because she was in good hands.
She looked for Tia and Tina but they had disappeared too.
"Ah man, come on! They left me here alone like a wounded horse, fuck all of you!"